"This sound recording of the surrender of Japan includes the surrender ceremony and statements by President Harry S. Truman, General Douglas MacArthur, and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. General MacArthur opened the surrender ceremony aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, presided over the signing, and closed the ceremony. Newscasters Webley Edwards and Merrill Mueller described the proceedings. President Harry S. Truman addressed the American people from the White House after the signing, and said: "The thoughts and hopes of all America -- indeed of all the civilized world -- are centered tonight on the battleship Missouri. On the recording, General MacArthur proclaimed victory, as he said: Today the guns are silent, a great tragedy has ended, a great victory has been won, the skies no longer rain death, the seas bear only calmness, men everywhere walk upright in the sunlight, the entire world lies quietly at peace, the whole mission has been completed."
National Archives Identifier: 2363637

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